


Name of the Game

by corgasbord



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (vine voice) and they were roommates, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, M/M, with a lot of banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 20:39:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13151616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgasbord/pseuds/corgasbord
Summary: Kokichi teaches Kaito how to play chess.





	Name of the Game

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grayimperia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayimperia/gifts).



> hey gray! consider this a sort of (very late) birthday/christmas gift all in one. i know how much you like oumota, and i partially have you to thank for getting me into the ship in the first place, so i wanted to write a little tribute to them and to you for being such a great friend to me these past few months. merry christmas!! <3

Of all the places Kaito expected to find his roommate the morning after Christmas, wedged halfway beneath their living room couch definitely wasn’t one of them.

Kaito opens his mouth, closes it, then rubs his forehead. It’s always something with Kokichi, something unpredictable yet completely asinine. He’s not sure he even wants to know, but he dares to ask anyway, “What the _fuck_ are you doing?”

Kokichi’s legs and back stiffen, but he doesn’t bother pulling his head or arms out to respond. “Oh, morning, Momo-chan! I was just going to hide and wait for you to find me. You know, like a late Christmas gift. Buuuut it looks like you found me anyway… too bad!”

Kaito is almost positive Kokichi is lying - almost, if only because he can never be sure. “Quit screwing around,” he scolds, stepping over to glare down at his back. “There’s no good reason for you to be poking around down there.”

“Maybe I just like it down here,” Kokichi says, a pout in his voice. “Maybe I’m sooo comfortable wedged into this space that I want to stay here for a bit. Take a little nap, maybe.”

“Bull fucking shit,” Kaito scoffs. “What’s the matter, you stuck?”

There’s no response for a few seconds, and Kaito’s eyes go wide. “Oh my god. You’re fucking stuck.”

“I am not,” Kokichi says, “I could toootally get out of here if I wanted!”

Kaito squints disbelievingly. “Then do it.”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

Kaito frowns. “All right, that’s it. Playtime’s over,” he says, bending down to grab Kokichi by the ankles. “Come on, I’m not letting you stay stuck under there all day like some kinda damn cat.”

Kokichi’s immediate response is to kick, forcing Kaito to drop his legs. “Don’t do that,” he snaps, surprisingly serious all of a sudden. “I can handle it myself, jeez.”

Kaito holds his hands up in surrender and steps back, and Kokichi begins wiggling his way out from beneath the couch with some difficulty. It takes him a minute, but every time Kaito steps closer or tries to say anything he gets kicked at accidentally-on-purpose, so he refrains until Kokichi has finally wormed his way out on his own.

“See?” Kokichi says, running a hand through his hair and flashing Kaito a nonchalant grin. “Told you I wasn’t stuck.”

“Uh-huh,” Kaito replies flatly. “Whatever. What I’m more concerned about is what you were doing down there- what you were really doing, I mean. I don’t wanna hear any more of your lies.”

“Aww, you would doubt me? You wound me, Momo-chan,” Kokichi croons. “But… yeah, you got me. I wasn’t actually hiding, I was seeking!”

“Seeking?” Kaito asks, “Seeking what?”

“Something near and dear to me. Something I just happened to misplace somewhere along the way,” Kokichi says dramatically, holding both hands to his chest. “Something I’m not sure I can go on without!”

Kaito sets his jaw, his patience waning. “Just spit it out already.”

“It’s…” Kokichi stands and elevates himself onto the tips of his toes, leaning as close to Kaito as he can manage with his short stature. “Your heart, Momo-chan!”

The saccharine sweetness in his tone is almost enough to make Kaito want to vomit. He shoves Kokichi back, lip curled, and says, “Fuck off, I just told you I didn’t want to hear any more bullshit.”

Kokichi giggles. “Nishishi… it was just a little joke, no need to be so bothered about it.”

“Fucking weirdo,” Kaito grumbles, then shakes his head. “Look, if you need to find something, I might be able to help if you actually tell me what it is.”

“Well, I'm not sure you of all people would be able to help me,” Kokichi says. “But if you really wanna know… it's a piece from the chess set Saihara-chan got me yesterday. One of the white knights, specifically.”

“The…” Kaito trails off. He doesn't know what the chess pieces are called, but he's sure he'll know what it is if he sees it. “Right. A knight. Got it, I'll help you look around for it.”

“You know, I bet you don't even know what it looks like,” Kokichi says. “Have you ever played chess? You don't look like the kind of guy who would know how.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Kaito asks, bristling. “What does it matter if I can’t play chess? It's a dumb board game. And I know what the pieces look like, at least.”

“Oh? Which one's the knight, then?” Kokichi asks. He looks far too amused for Kaito's liking. “It's very distinctive. Hard for even a dummy like you to confuse with the others.”

“It's the, uh.” Kaito scratches the back of his head, glances around the room, then turns away. “Actually, I don't have to prove anything to you, ‘cause I'll know it when I see it.”

“Mhm, sure, Momo-chan,” Kokichi says. “Hey, if we end up finding it, maybe I’ll teach you how to play. How's that sound?”

“Who said I wanted to learn how to play?” Kaito snorts, pacing the length of the living room with his eyes trained on the floor. “It looks boring as hell.”

“It’s only boring if you don’t get it.” Kokichi resumes looking under furniture, being sure not to stick his head underneath it this time. “Ah, but I guess it makes sense that someone like you wouldn’t enjoy it- it is a game for smart people, after all.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Kaito says, turning to shoot him a contemptuous glare. “I could learn if I wanted to. I could even get better at it than you!”

“Is that so?” Kaito can’t see Kokichi’s face, but he can envision the grin that he’s probably wearing well enough. “I guess we’ll just have to see about that.”

“Yeah, I guess we fucking will,” Kaito grumbles, resuming his search.

He does recognize the piece when he finds it beneath the Christmas tree that they have yet to dismantle, concealed beneath the rumpled tree skirt. It’s a little white horse head, no bigger than his thumb, impossible not to place. He holds it up triumphantly and calls, “Hey, Ouma, I found it!”

“Oh! Looks like you weren’t completely useless after all,” Kokichi hums, prancing over to pluck the piece from between his fingers. “Still up for a game, Momo-chan?”

“‘Course I am,” Kaito says, getting to his feet and dusting off his front with renewed vigor. “Just tell me the rules so that I can kick your ass.”

“My, you’re so confident!” Kokichi observes. “I’m interested to see how far that confidence gets you.”

He retrieves the chess set and places it in the center of the living room’s low table. It looks well-made, and probably not the least bit cheap, which leaves Kaito wondering how Shuuichi managed to scrape together enough money to spend on Kokichi, of all people.

“The goal of chess,” Kokichi begins, interrupting Kaito’s train of thought, “is to capture the enemy king. You do this by trapping it, so that it can’t escape no matter which way it’s moved. You can capture other pieces, too, by moving yours to the squares they occupy. Pretty simple, no?”

“Sure,” Kaito says, and he’s not really sure but he thinks he’ll get it somewhere along the way, probably.

Kokichi meticulously lines the black pieces up on the smooth checkered surface, explaining the function of each as he places them on their designated squares. “There are eight pawns on each side. They’re weak pieces that can only move forward one space at a time- though, you’re able to move them two spaces when moving them for the first time, if you so choose,” he says, assembling the short, plain pieces on the second row from the end.

There’s a greater variety of pieces along the back row. “These are rooks,” Kokichi says, setting one tower-shaped piece on each end. “They can only move in a straight line. And the knights- you know, like the piece you found earlier- those can only move in an L-shape. So, two squares forward and one square to the left, for example.” He moves a knight accordingly to demonstrate his point, accompanying its landing with a soft “neigh”. Then he glances up and adds, “You have to make that noise whenever you move it, too.”

Kaito rolls his eyes. “Like hell.”

“But I’m being totally serious,” Kokichi insists. “If there’s one thing I’m serious about, it’s games.”

“Yeah, right,” Kaito snorts. “Just keep going.”

“Hmph. Momo-chan’s no fun,” Kokichi mumbles. He picks up two pieces with tapered tips next. “These are bishops, and they can only move diagonally. Never in a straight line, like the rooks, which can never move in a diagonal line, like the bishops. The bishops can move wherever they want as long as they zig-zag it out, and the rooks aren’t allowed to cut corners. It’s like if you had one person who only ever used the crosswalk and one person who only ever jaywalked, but like, diagonally. Make sense?”

Not at all, Kaito thinks, but he nods anyway. He’s not going to let Kokichi confuse him, especially since that’s obviously what he’s trying to do.

“Good! That leaves the two most important pieces,” Kokichi continues, lifting the ones that have their importance clearly denoted by the crowns on their tops. “The queen is the most powerful piece on the board. It can be moved however far you want, and in any direction. It can even jump over pieces that stand in its way, which almost no other piece can do.” He sets it in the center black square. “The black queen always goes on the black square to start, while the white queen always goes on the white square. It’s like they want their starting points to match their outfits.”

“Uh-huh.” Kaito doubts he’ll remember that, or that he’ll even need to. “What about the king? That’s the most important piece, right?”

“Yep! But also, unfortunately, the weakest.” Kokichi places his king in the remaining square. “The king can move in any direction, but only one square at a time… and when it’s trapped, it’s all over.”

“Well, that’s fucking stupid,” Kaito says. “Shouldn’t the king be the strongest piece?”

Kokichi clicks his tongue condescendingly. “Importance doesn’t equal strength, Momo-chan. The king may not be good for anything on the battlefield, but at the same time, it’s absolutely crucial. Without a leader, the other pieces can’t function.”

“Whatever,” Kaito sighs. He isn’t about to question the logic of some inconsequential board game. He reaches for the white pieces to begin setting them up to mirror the ones on Kokichi’s side and asks, “Is that it?”

“Man, you’re so impatient,” Kokichi chides, but his eyes sparkle with something Kaito can’t identify. “When your king is in a position to be attacked, it’s called a check. You have to drop everything to protect it, whether by moving it out of the way or taking out the attacker with another piece. But once it’s so surrounded that escape is impossible…”

He reaches over to where Kaito just placed his king and flicks it off of the board. “It’s checkmate. Game over.”

“Hey!” Kaito shouts indignantly, stooping to grab the piece, and Kokichi laughs.

“Now then, Momo-chan. Think you’re ready?”

Kaito slams the piece down on the board hard enough to rattle the rest of them. “Yeah,” he says, “ready to kick your ass.”

“That’s the spirit,” Kokichi praises him, and Kaito foolishly ignores the insidious nature of the smile on Kokichi’s face that tells him he can’t hope to win.

\------

“Check.”

Kaito’s eye twitches. He glares down at the chessboard, fingers tapping agitatedly as he contemplates his next move. Kokichi watches him with an expression that can only be described as smug, far too smug for Kaito’s liking. Maybe that attitude is justified, given that he’s already won three games in a row, but Kaito still hates it. He hates it even more than he hates this stupid, confusing game, and he hates it almost as much as he hates the boy he’s playing it with.

“What’s the matter, Momo-chan?” Kokichi asks, sitting back leisurely. “Thinking you might forfeit already?”

“Hell no,” Kaito snaps. “I just need a minute to think, dammit.”

“Oh, of course! Take your time,” Kokichi says, folding his hands behind his head. “I know how hard thinking is for you, after all.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Kaito lifts his hand, lowers it, then lifts it again, letting it hover between the remaining white chess pieces on the board. Kokichi has already stolen his queen, over half of his pawns, both of his knights and one of… whatever the hell those weird pointy pieces are called. He can’t be bothered to remember.

His first priority should be to remove his king from danger. He knows that much, at least, but his king stands loosely surrounded with almost no chance of escape, as moving it in any direction would only result in another check and another smug look from his partner.

Kokichi starts to whistle idly, and Kaito grits his teeth and finally settles on one of the pointy pieces. He jumps it across the board and places it on a square occupied by one of Kokichi’s rooks, effectively displacing it, but the momentary satisfaction of capturing an opponent’s piece is offset by the irritation building within him.

Kokichi surveys the board, making an exaggerated humming noise that lets onto the fact that he’s only pretending to think. Then he smiles, slow and sinister, and picks up his queen. “Well, it was fun while it lasted, but you’re starting to bore me,” he says, moving it to the space Kaito had just taken. “Checkmate.”

“What?!” Kaito’s eyes dart over the board’s surface, scanning for some way to prove that Kokichi’s lying, some way to argue that it isn’t over. But it is. He’s been irrefutably defeated once again, and thinking about it is enough to make his fists clench.

“Yep, you lose!” Kokichi chirps. “That makes this… what, four wins for me? And four losses for you. Man, you really suck.”

That tears it. “Fuck you,” Kaito spits, and in what can only be described as a spontaneous, rage-fueled impulse, he flips the board, sending chess pieces scattering across the table and onto the floor.

For several long moments after that, there is only dead silence. Kaito breathes a bit too heavily. Kokichi stares at the upended chessboard with wide eyes, unmoving. Then, his lower lip begins to wobble, and within seconds he’s wailing like a child who scraped his knee.

“Wh- why would you do that?” he hiccups, face wet. “I was just- just trying to have fun and you… you… you’re so mean!”

Kaito knows Kokichi. He knows that Kokichi can summon crocodile tears on a whim, but that doesn’t stop the instinctive guilt from sinking into his chest. “Hey- look, you don’t need to do that,” Kaito says with a grimace. “Okay, fine. That was pretty uncalled for-”

“Juuuust kidding!” Kokichi says, wiping his cheeks. “Nishishi, I totally expected you to do something like that. Still, how inconsiderate, treating someone’s Christmas present that way!”

Kaito scowls and swallows back down the anger rising from the pit of his stomach. “Whatever. I’ll take care of it.”

As he rights the board and picks up the pieces, Kokichi says, “So, I take it you don’t feel like going for another round?”

Kaito narrows his eyes dangerously, and Kokichi pouts. “Aww. Too bad… I thought we could play one more time, but with higher stakes. You know, to make things interesting.”

“I don’t like your definition of interesting,” Kaito says. He bends to scoop up the pieces that fell on the floor and adds, “It usually involves hurting or embarrassing me in some way. Sometimes both.”

“Oh, come on. This wouldn’t hurt you,” Kokichi assures him. “... It might embarrass you, though.”

“Then what makes you think I’d agree to it?” Kaito asks.

“If you win, I’ll do your share of the chores for a week,” Kokichi offers, casually rocking in place.

“You barely do your own chores as is.”

“That’s why this would be such a win for you!” Kokichi stills and leans forward. “And if you lose… you have to kiss me. Though, I’d say that’s a win either way.”

“Ugh. That’s the last thing I’d call a win,” Kaito gripes, wrinkling his nose. And he means what he says, but he isn’t sure if it would be _that_ bad - at least, not bad enough to make him completely disregard the possibility of getting Kokichi to take on more responsibilities.

Kokichi bats his eyelashes expectantly. The smile on his face would almost appear angelic, were it not for the knowledge that he’s a demon beneath. Still, he heaves a deep sigh, runs a hand through his still-ungelled hair, and relents. “You know what, fine. One more game. And this time, I _will_ beat you.”

For Kaito’s part, he lasts exactly twenty-one turns before Kokichi executes the finishing move.

Kokichi nonchalantly spreads his hands. “Welp, looks like I win again, Momo-chan! You know what that means, right?”

Kaito isn’t mad at that point, not really, but he can feel the blood already beginning to creep up his neck. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. No need to fucking gloat about it.”

“Better pucker up, then,” Kokichi says, leaning onto his elbows with obvious glee. He turns his face to the side a bit, just enough to indicate that he expects it on the cheek. He expects Kaito to take the easy way out.

Kaito wants to feel insulted. He wants to feel relieved. He finds that he can’t feel one way or the other.

Doing things the easy way is tempting, especially in a situation like this, where his pride is at stake. He could land one quick peck on him and then leave and go about his day pretending that it never happened. But Kaito Momota doesn’t take the easy way out.

He tilts his head, purses his lips, and clumsily kisses Kokichi on the mouth.

Kokichi appears genuinely stunned when he pulls away a few seconds later, and it’s enough to make the embarrassment he feels almost worth it. Almost.

The impossibly wide grin returns to Kokichi’s face within moments, though, and he lifts a hand to his mouth with a laugh. “Oh my god. You actually did it… wow! I wasn’t sure you’d even go for the cheek, but the mouth? I definitely wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you were,” Kaito says, trying to look proud of himself, if only to conceal the increase in his heart rate. “That’s why I did it.”

“You’re a shitty kisser, though,” Kokichi comments. He hops onto his feet and stretches his arms above his head with an exaggerated groan. “It’s too bad, really.”

Kaito sputters. “It’s- wait, what?”

“All that said, it’s been fun! Seriously,” Kokichi says through his sickly sweet smile. “For once, you weren’t completely boring.”

He skips out of the living room just a bit too fast to be casual, leaving Kaito too surprised to speak. He should be annoyed - he thinks he is, a little bit - but now he’s more confused than anything else. Kokichi’s always like this, always confusing him and aggravating him and confusing him to the point of aggravation. It’s a routine that Kaito is somehow both used to and not used to at all.

Then he looks down at the table, at the chess set that Kokichi neglected to clean up, and convinces himself that he’s irritated again. _Damn him._


End file.
